Pathogen Lists Do Not Tell Us What We Need to Do

Area of Science:

• Infectious Diseases
• Public Health
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Pathogen lists are crucial for developing targeted interventions like vaccines for emerging infectious diseases.
• Current strategies often focus on pathogen-specific tools, which have limitations.
• There's a need to identify actionable research priorities beyond simply listing pathogens.

Purpose of the Study:

• To highlight the limitations of pathogen-specific approaches for emerging infectious diseases.
• To advocate for research into host-directed therapies for infectious diseases.
• To emphasize the potential of inexpensive generic drugs in managing infections.

Main Methods:

• Review of current strategies for emerging infectious diseases.
• Analysis of the limitations of vaccines and pathogen-specific treatments.
• Proposal of an alternative research direction focusing on host-response modulation.

Main Results:

• Pathogen lists primarily guide "what to have" (tools) rather than "what to do" (actions).
• Host-directed therapies targeting common infection responses offer a promising alternative.
• Inexpensive generic drugs could be repurposed for broad-spectrum treatment of infections.

Conclusions:

• Research should prioritize platform technologies for prevention and host-directed therapies for treatment.
• A shift towards understanding and modulating host responses is essential for managing emerging infectious diseases.
• Repurposing generic drugs represents a cost-effective strategy to mitigate disease impact.